1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system that uses GPS receivers and other sensors to acquire various information about one or more objects at an event.
2. Description of the Related Art
The television presentation of sporting events needs to be improved. Because of the size and speed of some objects and the distance of the television camera from the objects of interest, some objects at a sporting event are hard to see on a television screen. To compensate for objects that are hard to see on television, broadcasters will use zoom lenses. However, the limited field of view of a zoomed camera prevents the object from being viewed in relation to the playing field and prevents the viewer from seeing other objects that are part of the sporting event. Additionally, even with zoom lenses some objects and/or features remain difficult to see on television.
In auto racing, for example, it is difficult for a television viewer to identify the cars, determine how many laps a particular car has driven, the order of the cars (e.g. first place, second place, third place, etc.) and the instantaneous velocity of a car. Additionally, because the track is so large a camera can only capture images from part of the track and viewers may miss action in other parts of the track. Other sporting events and non-sporting events also present similar challenges.
Furthermore, broadcasters may be able to sustain greater viewer interest by presenting the viewers with additional desired information about the event and provide for the use of that information in an exciting way.
Thus, there is a need for enhancing the television presentation of objects at sporting events.
The present invention, roughly described, pertains to a system that uses GPS receivers and other sensors to acquire data about one or more objects at an event. The data acquired by the GPS receivers and the sensors is used to determine various statistics about the objects and/or enhance a video presentation of the objects. In one embodiment, the acquired data is used to determine a three dimensional position of an object, determine the position of an image of the object in a video and enhance the video accordingly.
One use of the present invention is with a system for tracking automobiles at a race. The system determines statistics about the automobiles and enhances a video presentation of the race. In various embodiments, the system may include RPM sensors, brake position sensors, throttle position sensors, fuel level sensors, temperature sensors, transmission position sensors, cameras, etc. In addition to an automobile race, the present invention can be used in other environments such as with other sporting events and non-sporting events.
In any system that uses sensors, the reliability of the sensors can be a concern. In one embodiment of the present invention, one subset of one or more sensors can be used to determine data normally acquired by a second subset of one or more sensors if the second subset of one or more sensors are not providing valid data.
Another embodiment of the present invention synchronizes data among different sensors.
In one implementation of the present invention, moving objects are highlighted in a video by a highlight that changes orientation according to the attitude of the object being highlighted. A further enhancement includes providing data about the object being highlighted and visually connecting that data to the highlight or the image of the object.
Various embodiment of the present invention provide different types of data to the viewer or user. For example, in the automobile race embodiment, a user can be provided with information about a car""s position in the race (e.g. first place, second place, etc), time behind the leader, lap number, lap fraction, instantaneous velocity, RPM, throttle position, brake position, drafting effect, transmission gear engaged, fuel level, a prediction of when the car""s fuel will be depleted, when the car has crossed certain locations on the track, when an accident is occurring and a car""s position with respect to other cars which may have already raced.
The present invention can be accomplished using hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software. The software used for the present invention is stored on one or more processor readable storage media including hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, DVDs, optical disks, floppy disks, tape drives, flash memory, RAM, ROM or other suitable storage devices. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the software can be replaced by dedicated hardware including custom integrated circuits, gate arrays, FPGAs, PLDs, and special purpose computers. In one implementation, the present invention is performed by a combination of software, computers (one or more processors, one or more storage-devices, I/O, etc), sensors and communication equipment.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in conjunction with the drawings.